Kid Floral

Floral (also known as Kid Floral) is a Washington-based alternative musician / producer in the underground music scene. He has performed in a variety of genres, including Hyperpop, Indie Pop, Trap, Folk, Shoegaze, and many others.

Artistry
Rumor has it that he debuted under the stage name "Ziploc," subsequently changing his name to "Lil Boxx" in late 2018, however these details have yet to be proven. The first known Floral song is "Happy Again," which features fellow companions skawt and AJ. Floral's lyrical material is frequently on mental health. While Floral is well-known for his breakup / love songs, he has stated that he wants to be open about his mental health, and that "there's no other way to do it but to express it in music." Many of his songs, most notably Advantage, Trust Issues, Celexa, and Trust The Sky, are about his struggles with depression and betrayal. He may also be heard ranting about spiritual perplexity, suicidal thoughts, a lack of motivation, and emotional rehabilitation.

Pollen
Floral's debut album, "Pollen," featured 13 songs. Floral showcases his emo rap / pop rap capabilities on several of these tracks, including Restart, Basic, Advantage, and I Never Loved You. Floral describes the album as "a deep dive into my mental state at the time of a middle school breakup." The album conveys a real, but yet tongue-in-cheek, angst as the vocalist saps about loss, fury, uncertainty, and mental instability. The artist also admits, "I basically show my ass on this record and humiliate myself, but that was partially the goal."

Airhead Tape Vol. 1 & following events
Floral followed up Pollen with an eight-track record called "Airhead Tape Vol. 1," on May 20th, 2021, which had smoother production and more ambitious concepts. This tape is a mash-up of genres including Pop, Hyperpop, Cloud Rap, and Pop Rap. Floral sees the album as a "challenge for myself to see how far I can go without going overboard." "I was testing the waters to see what I could get away with." Highlights on this album include Dysphoria, with skawt, which shows Floral stretching his producing abilities with a thumping, frenetic atmosphere. Dreams, a cloud rap song starring long-time partner kiernann, has the duo rapping over a spacey, druggy instrumental. According to the reviews, the album's primary highlight appears to be the song Love Me. Love Me is an outro that slows the album's descent into an introspective and honest dialogue Floral has with a girl he loves. The song is basically a confession. The music has a slow burning, atmospheric, and euphoric tone to it, as well as a sorrow to it. Floral expresses his fears that if he ever admits his affections, the girl will abandon him. According to reviews, this song boasts Floral's greatest vocal performance of all of his tracks. He writes a calm yet impassioned love letter, with drowned out harmonies lingering in the background, creating a dreamy atmosphere. The song progresses into a sweet ballad with the addition of a continuous yet strong drum beat that heightens the emotion and sentiment of the song. Floral brags about the song, stating that it allowed him to win the girl over. Floral remained silent for about 9 months after Airhead, only periodically releasing tracks such as "MINE" and "Friends" with xofilo. Both of these singles were unremarkable. It was "simply songs I put out for listeners to chew on until the next album came out," he explained. Floral maintained within his Pop / Trap genre, which only added to the surprise of the upcoming album, Nutmeg.

Nutmeg
Floral began to be more discreet about his releases after 2022, only leaking album art concepts. Then he revealed the tracklisting, indicating that the album will have 11 or 10 tracks. The first single from this album, "Freak," surprised everyone. Many people expected another pop song, but it turned out to be more of an indie pop / shoegaze tune. This was a preparation for the album's music, which was underground and grunge. Nutmeg was published on February 1st, 2022. Floral indicated that he intended to do "whatever the fuck" he wanted this time, so listeners weren't shocked when they began to hear influences from Alex G, My Bloody Valentine, Gorillaz, Nirvana, MGMT, Pixies, and others. Given the melodrama and angst that radiated from the songs, many individuals had conflicting opinions about the album. The reviews varied from good to bad. Floral’s past label mate, Ivan Knight, stated, “Not every song is amazing, and his voice can be a little weak, however, he is easily the best producer in Flex.” Reviews were also stating “Nah, this ain't it for me. Some unique moments, but overall not something I will be returning to.” and “I'm sorry if I'm being rude, but I thought I was listening to children's music.” Floral, on the other hand, didn't appear to mind. Nutmeg, according to Floral, is "yet another mental deep dive, but also a deep dive into my creative process."

Albums

 * Fake Gold (as Lil Boxx) (2019)
 * LUCID LIVING (as Lil Boxx) (2020)
 * Pollen (as Kid Floral) (2020)
 * nutmeg (2022)

Mixtapes

 * Airhead Tape, Vol. 1 (2021)

EPs

 * (chapters) (2020)